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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141017">The Family We Choose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcticfox007/pseuds/arcticfox007'>arcticfox007</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cas and Dean (Destiel) December 2020 Challenge [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Almost Kiss, Angel Wings, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, Family Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:41:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcticfox007/pseuds/arcticfox007</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean, Sam, Charlie, and Castiel are stuck in town due to a snowstorm. Castiel finally starts to feel like he belongs.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury &amp; Castiel &amp; Dean Winchester &amp; Sam Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cas and Dean (Destiel) December 2020 Challenge [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036836</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Family We Choose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Destiel December 2020 Challenge</p>
<p>Day 9: Family</p>
<p>This is a continuation of days 2-8! It will continue into day 10 :)</p>
<p>Any editing issues are entirely my own (feel free to let me know if something major needs to be fixed).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>***</p>
<p>	Cas and Dean were both damp from snow by the time they made it back to The Phoenix Emporium to meet up with Sam and Charlie, who weren’t even there yet. Dean reluctantly dropped Castiel’s hand as they walked in, no longer having an excuse to hold it. Dean wasn’t sure but he thought the angel looked disappointed when Dean pulled his hand away. He wasn’t sure when it had started happening, but Dean was beginning to believe that just maybe there was something more between him and his best friend. He’d spent so long pointedly ignoring his feelings for Cas because he assumed that angels didn’t feel love like humans did – and even if they could feel that, Dean wasn’t anything special. It was already an unexpected gift to just have Castiel in his life, especially considering what a screw up Dean was. His own mother didn’t seem to want to have a real relationship with him.</p>
<p>	One of the servers led them to a circular corner booth and brought out waters and menus for while they waited for the rest of their group. Dean pretended to be looking at the menu as he silently studied Cas on the other side of the table. He was always drawn to the angel’s intensely blue eyes, so much bluer than his vessel’s had been. Dean had thought maybe it was just his imagination that he could see something of the true angel in those eyes until he had spent more time with Claire. Jimmy’s daughter had her father’s eyes, Cas’ eyes weren’t quite the same. They were deeper somehow; it was why Dean sometimes forgot that he was staring at the angel for awkward amounts of time, it was like he could drown in the stormy blue irises. </p>
<p>	He was happy to see that Cas looked more relaxed than he’d really ever known him to be. It still bothered him that the angel wasn’t sure he fit in here. Every time Castiel left, Dean worried that he wouldn’t come back. He kept waiting for the day that Cas would realize that he couldn’t possibly be bothered with Dean of all people. All of these Christmas activities were more than worth it if they made Cas happy. Honestly, Dean had started having fun with it himself as well. When he’d worried about Sam having a good Christmas as a kid, Dean had never had time to enjoy any of it for himself. With Cas, though, they were having fun together. If everything kept going well maybe Cas would stay, at least as much as he could. Dean put his hand into his coat pocket to make sure the bee mug Cas had enjoyed was secure. At least he knew one part of Cas’ present was something he’d like. </p>
<p>	“Dean?” Dean realized that Cas must have said something while he’d been busy staring.</p>
<p>	“Sorry man, spaced out for a second. What’d you say?” Cas scooted over and tilted Dean’s head until he was looking at the snow filled window. For a moment Dean wasn’t sure what Cas wanted him to notice, but then he saw it and a slow smile spread across his face.</p>
<p>	“Hey, you found it!” Cas had discovered the last scavenger hunt angel. Dean turned to ask Cas if he still had the checklist for the game and was startled to find those startling eyes much closer than he had expected. His heart stuttered and for a moment Dean forgot to breathe. Cas’ eyes were wide and his breath soft and smelling of coffee and peppermint. Dean found himself leaning in as if Castiel’s lips were a force of gravity, and unexpectedly the angel started leaning in as well. Dean gulped air and – heard the scuff of a foot just behind him. Dean jumped in his seat and turned to see Sam and Charlie. </p>
<p>	“H-hi guys.” Dean cleared his throat nervously. He dared a glance at Cas, but the angel was apparently absorbed in the menu he likely wouldn’t order anything from. Sam scooted into the booth on Cas’ side while Charlie sat next to Dean, boxing him and Cas into the middle of the circular booth.</p>
<p>	“Heya. You guys have fun on your angel hunt?” Charlie smiled brightly as Sam looked between Dean and Cas with a thoughtful look on his face. Cas emerged from behind the menu, his cheeks brighter red than they had been in the cold. </p>
<p>	“Yes, thank you Charlie. We just found the last one in the window here.” </p>
<p>	“Cool! Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying this place because we are staying overnight!” Dean tore his gaze away from the menu he was now hiding behind.</p>
<p>	“Since when?” Sam pointed out the window.</p>
<p>	“Do you really want to drive the Impala in a potential blizzard? Besides, Charlie already found us a suite at the historic bed and breakfast. It’s… quaint. Also, they have some sort of special blueberry French toast they make in the mornings, so we figured you’d be okay with it.” Dean conceded that he didn’t want to drive Baby in a blizzard and he had already parked her in a paid for covered space because it was the most secure parking lot he had found here. He also wouldn’t say no to French toast.</p>
<p>	“Is this place in walking distance?” Sam shook his head but Charlie assured him that her current car was a four-wheeler and could easily make the 7-minute drive to their accommodations. Castiel pointed out that if the storm was really that bad, they should get their food to-go. They all fell into a comfortable silence while they made their food choices and Charlie found a 24-hour Walmart right up the street so they could grab whatever they all needed for an overnight visit. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>	After purchasing toothbrushes, toothpaste, and various other essentials, Charlie had dragged Cas away for what she had said was a secret mission. Dean had shrugged, willing to give their adopted sister whatever she wanted, and then he assigned Sam to waiting in the long 4 shopping days left until Christmas line while he wandered off to the toy section of the store. Dean snagged the Scooby-Doo themed Clue game, thinking it would be nice to have a family board game night while they were snowed in. He would have gotten some beer as well, but this was one of those places that only allowed separate liquor stores to sell alcohol. He decided to get apple cider and some plastic cups instead as he figured if their suite had a stove or even a microwave, he could make it work with some cinnamon sticks. </p>
<p>	While Dean planned for family game night, his mind was also mulling over the almost kiss that Sam and Charlie had interrupted. Dean could have sworn that Cas had also been leaning in towards him, but in part of Dean’s mind that just didn’t make sense. The idea that Cas could have actually wanted to kiss him was just too much. While Dean would be happy to kiss Castiel, he’d only rarely known Cas to have shown any interest in kissing anyone. Meg, April, and he vaguely recalled something about Hannah. Even if Cas had wanted to kiss him, did it mean the same thing it would have meant to Dean? Dean himself wouldn’t have been so ready to kiss Castiel not all that long ago, not until he had slowly begun to realize that it was okay for him to want to kiss guys. Well, not really guys so much as his best friend specifically, but he had always ignored it when he had been attracted to guys in the past. Charlie had been the one to call him on it, to mention more than once that Dean was a little bit too knowledgeable about how to flirt with a guy. While Dean hadn’t actually spoken to anyone, seeing Charlie so comfortable in her own sexuality and then seeing Claire falling for Kaia – it had helped. It had helped even more to see that no one he cared about thought twice about Charlie or Claire’s choices in partners. </p>
<p>	Dean’s mind raced. He had never talked to anyone about it because when he fell in love with his best friend, he felt like he was hung up on someone who would never feel the same. What’s the point of telling anyone you’re bisexual if you only date women? Dean was pretty sure there was a point, and if he was going to be uncharacteristically self-reflective, he may as well admit to himself that he hadn’t said anything when he was working it all out because he was afraid it would have made his feelings for Cas painfully obvious to anyone with eyes. Dean sighed deeply while contemplating a display of Christmas cookies with more intensity than was really warranted. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice Cas and Charlie until they both made their presence known with their shared lack of understanding of personal space. He was soon crowded between energetic red-head and intense 6-foot-tall angel. </p>
<p>	“What’d you get, Dean?” </p>
<p>	“Just Clue, Charlie. I thought we could all have family board game night.” Charlie grinned eagerly and Cas glanced down at the board game Dean had under his arm.	</p>
<p>	“It’s that talking dog.” Cas seemed pleased that he knew the game’s theme. Dean tentatively smiled at him.</p>
<p>	“Yeah, I thought you and Sam at least would appreciate a Scooby-Doo mystery game.” Cas broke out into a laugh, and that made it more than worth it for Dean.</p>
<p>	“Do I even want to know, guys?” Dean encouraged Cas to tell Charlie about their cartoon adventures as they walked over to wait in line with Sam.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>	Castiel couldn’t remember a time when he had felt happier. In all fairness, he had spent most of his existence without feeling much emotion at all, but this was different than even the brief moments of satisfaction he had experienced in more recent years. When they reached the Wayside Inn Cas agreed with the ‘quaint’ assessment. It was a stone inn from the 1800s. They had already been relatively packed by the time Sam and Charlie were looking for rooms, so all four of them were sharing one of the larger suites. There was a large window seat that Cas found appealing as he could watch as the snow fell and muffled all of the outdoor noise. He especially liked how the Christmas lights reflected off of the powdery white snow drifts.</p>
<p>	His human friends all ate dinner quickly while Cas stole a few fries just to get Dean to look at him. He could tell Dean felt awkward about what happened in the restaurant, and because Dean felt awkward, Cas felt it as well. He didn’t know what had come over him but he would try to restrain himself a bit more in the future. Even so, he had thought that Dean had leaned into the kiss as well. Cas rolled his shoulders to dispel some of the tingling sensation of his grace running through his wings. They had pulsed again when he and Dean had almost – well, if nothing else Dean’s first look at Castiel’s wings would be more impressive with how much they had healed. </p>
<p>	Even with the almost kiss hanging over Castiel’s thoughts, he was enjoying himself. Dean roared with laughter when Charlie showed him the picture of Sam in reindeer antlers. He suggested that they send it to Crowley as Sam protested that a moose and a reindeer were not the same thing. Dean announced that he had gotten everyone apple cider, and Charlie pulled out the matching Christmas pajamas she had gotten Cas to help her pick out. She quickly guilt-tripped the Winchesters into wearing them. Castiel didn’t argue with her, it felt wonderful to be included. He had even picked out fuzzy Christmas socks for all of them when he had been looped into Charlie’s plan, and gave Dean the one with angels on them. Charlie then proceeded to give both of the brothers the saddest face she could conjure up until they all agreed to sit in window seat together while Charlie propped up her phone to take a picture of them all.</p>
<p>	“Group hug!”, Charlie called out. Cas was startled to find himself wrapped in Dean’s arms from behind with Charlie and Sam on either side of him. The camera’s timer went off just as Cas’ smile encompassed his entire face. For the first time since rebelling against Heaven, Castiel felt like he was really part of a family.</p>
<p>***</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks as always for reading, I've been having so much fun sharing this story with everyone!</p>
<p>As I stated last week, the location of the story right now is based on a real historic city in Ellicott City MD - the Wayward Inn is a real place as well (they have the recipie for their blueberry french toast on their website). While they aren't actually in MD, the city itself is a fun setting to pull from.</p>
<p>As always kudos and comments are very welcome, thanks again!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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